The Walls Within: The Politics of Immigration in Modern America

The 1965 Hart-Celler Act transformed the American immigration system by abolishing national quotas in favor of a seemingly egalitarian approach. But subsequent demographic shifts resulted in a backlash over the social contract and the rights of citizens versus noncitizens. In The Walls Within, Sarah Coleman explores those political clashes, focusing not on attempts to stop immigration at the border, but on efforts to limit immigrants’ rights within the United States through domestic policy. Drawing on new materials from the Carter, Reagan, and Clinton administrations, and immigration and civil rights organizations, Coleman exposes how the politics of immigration control has undermined the idea of citizenship for all.
Sarah Coleman is a historian of 20th century America. Her research is focused on immigration, race and rights in the United States and she is particularly interested in the intersection of politics, public policy, social movements. Her teaching focuses on political, social and policy history.
Discussants:
Monica W. Varsanyi
CUNY Graduate Center
Cristina Rodríguez
Yale Law School
Brendan Shanahan
Yale University